DNA works in very cool and sometimes unexpected ways. We’re sharing a few more things that you may not know about DNA and how genes affect our looks, behaviors, and more.
Do You Know These DNA Facts?
Red Hair
Red hair is one of the few traits controlled by a single gene; if Baby gets two copies, she’ll produce lots of pheomelanin and have fiery locks. She’ll also get light skin and freckles; the same gene causes the skin’s melanocytes to clump rather than distribute evenly. (Got freckles but not red hair? You may have inherited only one copy of the ginger gene.)
Blame for Baldness
If your son eventually loses his hair, you may not be to blame. Despite conventional wisdom, genes for male-pattern baldness can be inherited from either parent. It’s not only moms who hand them down. Scientists have discovered multiple genes that can play a role in hair loss.
Express Yourself
You can pass along the quirky way you furrow your brow while thinking. Expressions may be hereditary. A study in “Evolution” found that people who are born blind are far more likely to share their relatives’ (rather than strangers’) exact facial expressions for concentration, anger, disgust, joy, surprise, and sadness. The blind participants didn’t learn to make these faces by watching relatives, so the results suggest a genetic link.
Tongue Tricks
Can you roll your tongue? Turns out, this trick may not be as simple genetic trait as many are taught. It was believed that tongue-rolling was a simple genetic trait determined by one gene that has two alleles. So, inheriting a dominant copy of the gene should result in an individual inheriting the trait, right? Not so. Even identical twins don’t always share the ability, suggesting it’s more complex than we thought!
Kansas City’s Trusted DNA Testing Facility
Test Smartly Labs provides court-admissible, discreet, and confidential paternity and maternity testing as well as other types of relationship DNA testing. If you want DNA testing, contact us today!
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